Highs, lows and dead fish: Rahm Emanuel's political journey

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Tuesday he wasn't seeking re-election, on the eve of the murder trial of Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke. Emanuel was elected mayor of Chicago in 2011 and re-elected in 2015. His political journey wound through the U.S. Congress and serving two presidents. The mayoral election is Feb. 26, 2019. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff election between the top two finishers would be held April 2.

Nov. 29, 1959: Rahm is born

Rahm Israel Emanuel is born in Chicago, the middle son of a Jerusalem-born pediatrician and his civil rights activist wife. (Older brother Ezekiel is a bioethicist; younger brother Ari is a Hollywood agent.)

1960s: Early school years

Attends Jewish day school in Chicago, then public school after his family moves to north suburban Wilmette. Was known for his intensity even then. In a New Yorker interview, Emanuel recalled his first-grade teacher once saying, "Rahm likes to clean up after cleanup time is over."

With family in mid-1960s. (Rahm For Chicago)

1970s: Studies ballet

Studies at the Evanston School of Ballet. Graduates from New Trier West High School. Loses part of the middle finger of his right hand as a result of a meat slicer accident while working at Arby's.

Helps Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton capture the presidency. In a restaurant after the election, Emanuel adds to his reputation by repeatedly stabbing a table with a steak knife while naming the campaign's enemies and declaring each of them "dead."

1993-98: Demoted by President Clinton

Becomes a key adviser to President Clinton; is demoted after clashing with colleagues, but works his way back into the president's good graces.

With Clinton in 1997. (Joyce Naltchayan/AFP/Getty Images)

1994: Ties the knot

Marries Amy Rule. (Children: Zach, Ilana and Leah.)

1999-2002: Earns millions

Between government jobs, earns at least $16 million in investment banking.

2002: First term won

Wins the first of three terms in the U.S. House with help from Daley loyalists.

2006: Helps orchestrate takeover of Congress

As chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Emanuel helps orchestrate takeover of Congress from the Republicans.

With family on their way to vote in 2006. (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune)

Emanuel leaves the White House, returns to Chicago. Holds emotions in check during his mayoral campaign, even while enduring an 11-hour election board hearing on his residency and being temporarily knocked off the ballot in a court challenge.

Feb. 22, 2011: Elected mayor of Chicago

Wins 55 percent of the vote in mayoral election, and becomes Chicago's first Jewish mayor.

Six of the city's 12 mental health clinics close, as called for in Emanuel's first city budget as mayor. City officials defended the decision, saying that patients will continue to have access to care. Critics counter that many patients at closed clinics ended up homeless, jailed or dead.

The Board of Education votes to shut down almost 50 schools, mostly on the South and West sides of Chicago. Emanuel faces pushback from the CTU, parents and teachers alike, and calls the decision "incredibly difficult." The administration cited underenrollment as the reason for the closures.

Feb. 24, 2015: Re-election bid forced into runoff

Wins 46 percent of the vote in the mayoral election against Jesus Chuy Garcia. Neither win a majority, so a runoff election is planned for April.

Emanuel opens The 606 -- a 2.7-mile elevated bike path running through four community areas -- after its first phase of development. Concerns about gentrification, rising real estate prices and fundraising $20 million for the next phase don't dampen celebrations on opening day.

August 2015: City sues red light camera operator

The Emanuel administration sues red light camera operator Redflex for more than $300 million on grounds that the entire program was built on a bribery scheme, as detailed by a Chicago Tribune investigation. The lawsuit was the latest in a saga that began before Emanuel was mayor. Five months after becoming mayor, Rahm Emanuel asks the legislature to authorize a wider use of automated traffic cameras -- to catch speeders around parks and schools.

After the shooting of Laquan McDonald by a Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke, Emanuel fails to release a dashcam video of the shooting until a judge orders it -- after the election. After the video is released, protests break out and part of Michigan Avenue is shut down on Black Friday.

Emanuel spars with President Donald Trump on Chicago's sanctuary city policy, and wins a lawsuit that stops the Trump administration from withholding grant money. A panel of federal judges said the funds can't be withheld from so-called sanctuary cities.

With wife Amy Rule by his side, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announces Sept. 4, 2018, he will not seek a third term in office at a news conference on the fifth floor at City Hall. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)